In the electronics industry, electrical connectors are mounted to printed circuit boards, such as by right angled mounting, for electrical connection to circuit traces on the boards. A conventional shielded input/output (I/O) electrical connector includes a dielectric (plastic) housing having a plurality of terminal-receiving cavities or passages, with a plurality of terminals received in the passages. A metal shield surrounds a substantial portion of the housing to protect at least the mating portions of the terminals from RF and EMI interference as well as protecting the surroundings from interference radiating from the connector itself. The connector is mounted to the printed circuit board, and the terminals have tail portions for connection, as by soldering, to circuit traces on the board.
In some applications, such shielded connectors have some form of locking or retention feature, commonly called "boardlocks" to hold the connectors to the board. In other applications, the connectors include a commoning feature, such as mounting feet or ground straps, to ground the shield of the connector to a ground trace or pad on the board. In still other applications, the connectors might include locating means, such as locating pegs, for locating the connector at a predetermined position on the board. Heretofore, one or more of these features have been provided by separate components, independent of either the housing or the shield of the connector, to perform the respective functions. These separate components cause problems in significantly increasing the fabrication and assembly costs of the connectors.
Still further, such connectors often have apertures in planar flanges for receiving jack screws or jack screw posts. These jack screw receiving apertures consist of tapped (threaded) holes in the planar flange that, typically, are positioned at the lateral side of the connector. A problem with such structures is that the planar flange has a tendency to become bent or misaligned if it is not properly positioned or secured to the housing.
The present invention is directed to solving the various problems enumerated above in a single or one-piece conductive or metallic shield to eliminate all extraneous or separate components heretofore used to ground the connector shield, to locate the connector on the board, to lock the connector to the board and to ensure proper location of the jack screw-receiving apertures, all by various means integral with the one-piece shield.